The Perpetuals
Fleeing the collapse of the Capitol Wasteland, a small group of Enclave forces would take refuge in Boise, desperate to use the place to rebuild. Edgy and ever untrusting, The Perpetuals are licking their wounds and listening to the city below. History Pre-War The beginnings of the Perpetuals were created when their HQ, Fort Perpetual, was completed in 2066. The first Perpetuals were nothing more than a skeleton crew of four-hundred personnel, mostly a large scientific team and a token force of armed soldiers. Various complaints were made about the staffing issue, as Fort Perpetual was massive, and the current force of personnel was simply too small, even with the large number of robots that were installed to quell the complaints, to keep the base fully functioning for any extended period of time. The Great War Complaints about staffing were never addressed, as Fort Perpetual had become more of an arms depot than an actual fortress in the eyes of the current administration. Thus, though well stocked and prepared for the nuclear holocaust, they did not have enough manpower to keep all of the bases myriad sections functioning. 2077-2100 While maintaining some contact with other Enclave forces, and shipping off a large amount of expendable supplies to the other cells scattered across post-War America, the Idaho Cell found itself fighting an uphill battle to keep the base functioning. The use of a small army of maintenance robots slowed the fortress's decline greatly, but in the end Fort Perpetual was simply too large to keep all of its systems functioning. Many non-essential sections were cordoned off, only to be accessed when the more essential sections needed raw materials they could cannibalize from the neglected systems. High Command soon grew tired of maintaining the personnel and ordered that the fort closed, and all materials possible should be prepped for transport, and the remainder were to be stored deep in the fort for later recovery. The last vertibird left the fortress in late 2100, and it would sit empty for over a century and a half. 2278 During and immediately after the massacre at Adams Air Force base, the personnel took what supplies and loved ones they could and flee. With the president and almost all of the leadership gone, there was mass confusion as vertibirds flew off left and right. Lieutenant Colonel Retts, the head of Intelligence for the east coast remnants of the Enclave, managed to gather his immediate staff, guards and families and three vertibirds to transport them. They initially headed to Chicago like others, the trip giving Retts time to think. He remembered a old fortress that had been converted into a supply depot shortly after the atomic holocaust further west in Idaho, Fort Perpetual. He called together what remained of his staff and told them of his plan. Chicago was a desolate war-zone and the "personnel" were more vulture than men, and they would turn on them if given the chance. He then told them of Fort Perpetual and the things that could lie in storage awaiting them. Many were still shell-shocked from seeing their comrades murdered as they were, cut down like wheat before a single person. This Brotherhood lackey waded through plasma bolts and pierced power armor like it was wet paper, nothing could stop him from destroying the Crawler, and it was really a miracle that anyone escaped. The reception they received in Chicago was less than warm, to say the least, and tension rose easily. Rumors quickly began going around that the Brotherhood was pursing them in captured vertibirds, causing some to take off on foot. Under these circumstances he was able to convince those he saved from The Capitol to trust him one more time. They made their move three days after they arrived, pilots refueling the craft while the others gathered their belongings. They managed to get away without incident, but were denounced as traitors over open channels. They arrived in Idaho late that afternoon, and were witness to a firefight between mutant war bands, a Brotherhood patrol out recruiting wasters, and hordes of mutants. When the flew into the mountains they saw the valleys were dotted with villages and camps, with tribals roaming all over. Many in the group were feeling very regretful when they finally arrived at the hanger doors of Fort Perpetual. But when the doors rumbled to life and slowly retracted for the access codes, tensions were eased. The aircraft set down easily in the large hanger bay, and Retts organized them into teams. Three security teams would go with him and look around the immediate area, while the rest would wait for their report. The search revealed no monsters, only disuse and dust. The group pushed forward into the barracks before calling up the others. He moved his people into the barracks as he and the few engineers advanced into reactor room A. There they cranked the nuclear generator back into its fission reaction, lighting the halls and rooms of level A. The families and lower personnel were allowed to set-up while Retts met with his staff to discuss their situation. They were declared to be traitors and there was still no word from high command, but the base did exist and had power. Of more immediate concern was food and water. The amount they had wouldn't last them long, and any the base had would have been removed previously. Retts and a small squad of soldiers set out for the valley floor to hunt, while the others settled in. They brought back several Jackalopes and distributed the meat as Retts looked over the supplies. Level A was mainly the hanger and barracks for pilots, and most of storage contained parts for aircraft. The plans they could pull up showed that useful materials would be below them in Level B. The problem was that while the elevators drew power from all reactors, the floors took it only from their respective reactors. They managed to breech into level B a week later, where they found the reactor room infested with Mole Rats. The creatures had dug through the mountainside in the years since the fort's abandonment, claiming Level B as their own. The security detail dispatched the Rats with ease, lasers slicing through their hides like it was paper. When they were finished, the Maintenance and Science teams were brought down to look over the damage by lamp-light. The Rats had chewed the wiring out of most machines, using it for nests, while most of the machinery was rusted beyond hope. Fortunately the Reactor was still stable and operable, though it's power had to be routed to auxiliary systems throughout the fort since the computer couldn't detect any input from Level B. The rat tunnels were collapsed, and the dead ones were turned into meat, to the relief of the families upstairs. The Maintenance detachment told the Colonel that they would need to replace all the wire throughout the Level to repair the damage, something that was near impossible for them. The auxiliary systems proved to be more than worth the time spent gaining entrance to the level however, gaining them access to water purifiers, heating and back-up lighting. It also powered on the Comm center on Level A, which handled not only inter-base messages, it also picked up other signals from Boise. The Enclave was now privy to every conversation that happened over radio-waves for the surrounding area, learning a lot in a short time. They learned of The Brotherhood presence in the city below, something that worried them until they determined that these were not at all like the ones in the capitol. 2279-2281 The new year began on a high note for the group; they negotiated a non-aggression pact with the deserters of the Imperial Realm. Out hunting for more food, Retts and his security escort were startled by a large group of tribals, all of whom were armed. Seeing that they were not attacking however, Retts told his men to hold their fire as he approached the tribal leader. The two talked by themselves for a few minutes before returning to their hosts. Retts returning his party back to the base and announced the treaty to the survivors, with opinions divided. Many wondered why they didn't simply wipe the slavers off of the face of the planet, others were uninterested, focusing more on how they were to survive inside the base. The head of the security forces understood the need for outside help however, and quelled the rare voice of dissent. To stop any would-be plotters, and also to gather resources, Retts dispatched a strike team by vertibird to attack a brotherhood supply convoy. They deployed hours ahead of it, kept in constant update by the Brotherhood's own reports. They would be greatly surprised by another group nonetheless, when a pack of the Boise Mutant Horde descended from the ruins and fell on the convoy. The team moved and attacked in time to save some of the supplies, and were quickly extracted before more mutants arrived. The encounter provided not only valuable supplies, but also information. For their might and protectorates, even the Brotherhood wasn't able to defend all of their assets. They would begin to plot an offensive against them, stopping only when they encountered a warband of The Bloodborne. The slobbering mutants attacked, charging over the field, uncaring of the laser beams that were cutting them down. None of the tribals survived their charge, and the patrol moved back into the base They currently rely on a network of deep cover agents in the city's factions, dependent on them for plans not broadcast on the radio. The loyalty of the operatives are often in question however, as many prefer life in the city over the tomb of the base. They have lost more than a few personnel to defection, (though They have always been dispatched promptly) leaving the program in question. The leadership often turned a blind eye to this however, as the agents carried out the Enclave's quiet war alongside the Imperial Realm, reliant on false-flags and diplomatic sabotage to outright attacks. 2282-83 The Perpetuals would spend the first half of 2282 gathering resources and exploring the lower levels, leaving their base only to collect food. That winter however they would launch a series of lightning strikes against several of The Bloodborne packs, seemingly in support of their Razorback allies. This would include a disastrous raid on the Full Eyes, which the tribals had seen coming and prepared for. They also began hesitantly interacting with some of the more "clean" tribes in the valley below. They were desperate to ensure their numbers, so they began taking some children, killing the parents to ensure they only believe in the Enclave. This was a heavily criticized move, both within and without the military chain. It was stop on new year's day 2283, but in that time they still managed to gather about three dozen children. In March Retts lead a retaliatory strike on the Full Eyes, recovering a few to dissect and destroying the rest of the pack. They also began to scout several Brotherhood positions that winter, with two agents managing to infiltrate them by March. Culture The atmosphere of Fort Perpetual is one of quiet desperation. The survivors from Adam's and the few from Navarro are haunted by the ghost of their friends, families and comrades, and hopelessly outnumbered on the field. The spies they send out to monitor the factions often think of defecting, and indeed many do blur the lines of their identities. The family members try their best to brighten up the living spaces with what material they have scavenged, but with so much of the base closed off, they do little more than garnish a corpse. Relations The Perpetuals have an uneasy truce with the Imperial Realm, viewing the slavers as untrustworthy scum, they still can't afford a conflict so close to home. They are currently hostile to the Idaho Brotherhood of Steel, having clashed with them on several occasions, but as of yet neither side has launched a major offensive. They view the various tribes with a sort of Civilized Man's Burden, feeling it is their job to uplift the various people in the valleys below. They also fill the role of Deities for a tribe of Bloodborne, much to the distaste of both the officers and enlisted personnel, but the mutant shocktroops have proved invaluble to several operations, so contact and humoring continues. Quotes By About Category:Groups Category:Enclave Category:Idaho